Shafts adapted as adjustment screws and the like, can be manually rotated to effect some type of adjustment by forming some sort of drive tool receiving structure at the end of or on the shaft, and using a correspondingly adapted driving tool to rotate the shaft. A typical drive tool receiving structure can include a hexagonal-shaped head (hex-heads) provided at the end of the shaft for use with conventional wrenches. Another common shaft drive arrangement can include a plurality of slots cut into the shaft such that they extend parallel with the axis of the shaft around the perimeter thereof. Rotation of the shaft is effected by inserting a screwdriver or similar object into one of the slots and prying in the direction of the desired rotation of the shaft. After some amount of rotation is achieved, the screwdriver is removed and reinserted into the end of the slot for further rotation.
There are several disadvantages associated with the above method. One disadvantage is that a separate drive tool must be provided. Another disadvantage is that the drive tool must be repeatedly removed from and then reinserted in the drive tool receiving structure for every rotational stroke of the shaft. This becomes very tedious if the shaft requires many revolutions.
A further disadvantage of the above method is that that there must be adequate physical access or clearance to the drive tool receiving structure to allow an effective stroke angle. If physical access or clearance to the drive tool receiving structure is inadequate, the stroke can be limited to a small angle that will not be effective in rotating shaft. In the case of shafts with hex-heads, there must be adequate clearance for placing the wrench over the next set of hex-head flats. In the case of the slotted shafts, the slot dimension and mechanical slop between the screwdriver and the slot limit the stroke angle.
Accordingly, an improved method for rotating a shaft is required that substantially eliminates the disadvantages associated with the above method.